


I Like You a Latte

by Sunshine_Personified



Series: NCT University Shenanigans [1]
Category: K-pop, NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Barista!Mark, Barista!Renjun, Cute, Fluff, Have a nice day, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I Tried, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Multi, Non-Idol AU, Pining, University AU, Wingman!Renjun, coffee shop AU, markhyuck, whipped!mark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-10-12 06:14:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20559566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sunshine_Personified/pseuds/Sunshine_Personified
Summary: There are five things that Mark should probably do.- Learn how to cook- Study for his exam- Visit his parents- Get new dormmates (because he's pretty sure that Jungwoo and Lucas have corrupted the whole dorm)- Confess to DonghyuckYeah, he's pretty sure that the last one is a bit harder than the others.





	I Like You a Latte

Mark had a crush on Donghyuck.

It was an irrevocable fact that his dormmates would always tease him about. As if they didn't have people they were pining over. Now, don’t get him wrong, he’s definitely not the main character of a romance novel, because those end happy endings, and this definitely won’t end well. But he can’t help himself, and, according to Renjun, his co-worker and the guy that holds the record for the most embarrassing voice break in high school, closely followed by Lucas and then Mark himself, he’s more whipped than the drinks he makes, and that’s not exactly a good thing. 

An uncharacteristically soft breeze tousled Mark's unstyled, light brown hair as he made his way from his lecture to the campus café, the uneven pile of textbooks almost slipping from his hand as he swerved left and right to avoid rushing students, Johnny, most likely chasing after Ten, Yuta desperately clinging onto a disinterested Winwin, the usual faces around the university. He stumbled into the café. The scent of pumpkin, cinnamon, and coffee immediately hit him, bringing warmth back into his near-frozen face.

Working in the coffee shop right on his university campus pretty much guaranteed he would see his crush, a certain loud charm called Donghyuck, about every day. Bean There, Scone That, was that one place for students to spend their free time, hanging out with friends, studying, leisure time, the cafe was the best chill-out space on campus, run by students, for students, and Mark was one of the _ oh so _ lucky people to work there. Don't get him wrong, he loves his job, it's just that he has to interact with the prettiest person he's ever seen in his life, "second-most", Renjun would say, "you're friends with me, remember?" and he'd laugh, but deep down, he'd disagree.

He was just tying the apron around his waist when a very familiar voice resounds through the employees only room in the back.

"Hey, Mark, register, now, by the way, Haechan's on table eight." Renjun, his best friend and the demon that he was cursed with since birth said with a wink. 

"If I could hit you with a knife, I would Junnie," Mark replied, rolling his dark eyes and subtly lifting his eyebrows. "But even if we did talk, I wouldn't know how to act, because if you didn't know I'm a total wuss." 

"I think the technical term is stab, and just act natural."

"In that kind of situation, the most natural thing to do for me would be to panic, so technically, I'm allowed to panic."

"Okay that's not what I meant, act like it's like any other normal day with a normal customer." Renjun sighed exasperatedly, giving me the side-eye. 

"My normal days are panicking and this isn't a normal customer."

"Just go, now shoo."

Mark shuffled up to the register, while he was waiting for the next customer to pay for their order he was mulling over the lyrics for his songwriting class, spying on Donghyuck etching designs in his notebook. He couldn't help but watch him through fond eyes, not that Mark could see that look anyways, but he found the corners of his mouth lift up into a tiny smile. There was something about Donghyuck that made him continue looking at him through his peripherals, maybe it was the way his brow would furrow up in concentration, maybe it was the way he would run his hand through his newly-dyed hair as he nibbled on his pen. Looking back at the cash register, he let out a soft sigh, a moment like his would have been the start of any romance arc in any of the novels his brother Taeyong would force him to read.

His face fell slack.

Oh. _ Oh no _.

"'A' is for you need to confess."Mark turned around, making eye contact with a pair of teasing eyes, belonging to none other then Renjun.

"According to WHAT alphabet?" He chuckled, not paying attention to the register anymore.

"According to the love language, I thought you were the writer in this friendship?" Renjun scoffed. 

"I'm a _ song _writer, there's a difference." 

"I'm trying to have a serious conversation with you!" 

"And I'm trying to avoid it!"

"Lord give me patience or an untraceable handgun so I can shoot my best friend in the forehead for being such a panicked gay."

"I'm a panicked gay. You're a panicked gay. We're the co-presidents of the Gay Panic Club, which consists of, us, Jisung and Taeyong ." Mark responded, almost naturally, the left side of his lips tugged upwards.

"Actually I'd like to say I identify as both a panicked and a confident gay, don't assume my sexuality, Mark."

"Oh yeah? Have you even confessed to the two that must not be named."

"Don't you dare bring Jeno and Jae- HEY don't change the subject, anyway, I have an idea for you to confess to Haechan."

"And that is..?" 

"Well, it involves fire an-"

"Absolutely not."

"But-"

"On a scale of one to ten, how bad would it be?"

"America."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Neither does the fact that you haven't confessed to Donghyuck yet," there was now a hint of hidden mirth in Renjun's eye, glinting in the afternoon glow. "You've liked him since he walked in four months ago." 

Mark started to swivel around on the heel of his black sneaker. "Okay, I'm just not going to talk to you anymo-"

In front of the counter, standing in all their beautiful glory, was none other than Donghyuck. Orange hair and all, and Mark would've swooned over the smile that would rival the sun between those slightly peach-coloured cheeks if it weren't for the fact that Donghyuck literally heard everything he'd just said. _ Please stop being so attractive, I'm trying to breathe here. _Donghyuck chuckled and Mark swears it's like music under a summer breeze until he realises he'd just said his last thought out loud.

"How long have you been standing there?" Mark asked, his voice slightly shaky, eyebrows definitely raised.

"Longer than you'd like." Renjun supplied, behind him, "By the way, Haechan, your total is four dollars twenty."

Donghyuck nodded in pleasant affirmation before making eye contact with Mark "You are probably one of the least subtle people I've ever seen, your, 'I have a crush on you' look can literally be seen from the moon, and it's way too cute to be legal," Donghyuck tilted his head to the side, set some coins on the counter and placed his hand back in his denim jacket pocket. "I like you too by the way." He winked as he walked out of the cafe, the tiny bell dinging behind him. 

Mark turned to his best friend, who was laughing hysterically.

"I'm just going to aggressively ignore that part of my life until it goes away."

"That's definitely not going to work." Renjun said, still getting over his amusement.

"Okay fine, which way did he go? I'm going to go after him."

"Well, based on the direction of the wind, the crumpled leaves on the pathway, and the slight disturbance in the dirt, I'd say he went left, probably to his next lecture."

"You could really figure it out from all that?" Mark's mouth dropped.

"No, my clueless best friend, we take the same course."

"Wait, what do you mean?"

"I'm saying Mark, that Haechan is a double major and has a class with me, therefore, we are friends, therefore, I know his schedule." Renjun's smile mocked Mark in his shocked disposition.

Mark was silent.

"Yes, Mark, maybe if you'd paid attention to our conversations and been quiet like you are now, instead of daydreaming about Hyuck you would have noticed, now why are you standing there for, you need to go get yourself a boyfriend, go on, I'll put away our aprons."

"Thanks, you're the best," Mark says as he dashed towards the door. 

**Author's Note:**

> ~ ♡


End file.
